Does Sand Make Good Rock Tumbling Grit?

Let's' try it and find out! I was really surprised by the results of my experiment.

Thanks to Christina Jelinek for editing the closed captions for this video.

– MERCH –

– FACEBOOK –

– INSTAGRAM –

– KINGSLEY NORTH –
Kingsley North is a lapidary store in Michigan's U.P. They make a great cab machine and sell many other brands too. They have a huge selection rough rock, tumblers, grit, jewelry supplies etc. at good prices. I buy most of my coarse grit from here in 45 lb. bags. It's the best price I have found. If you buy using the following link, I make a small commission.

This is the cabbing machine I use:

– THE ROCK SHED –
I buy a lot of lapidary supplies from The Rock Shed. I don't make money from your purchases there, but they have good prices and good service. This is where I buy my finer grits and polish.

– AMAZON STOREFRONT –
I also have an Amazon storefront. This is where you can find other products you may have seen in my videos. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn't cost you extra.

– SUBSCRIBE –
On Michigan Rocks you can join me on relaxing rock hunts in picturesque Michigan. I'll also show you how to polish rocks and teach you other lapidary techniques. New videos are posted every Friday and some Tuesdays. Subscribe now so you don't miss any upcoming videos!

[Al-yhkv]

I also tried black blasting sand, but it broke down almost as quick as Masonary sand

[RyuRaeArashi]

Surprisingly I think I'd like a lot of rocks just tumbled a while with water only, they look rough and natural but shiny and I like them more than I expected.

[Rockhounding]

I’m glad you included the just water barrel for a control. I always do a burnishing stage between different stages mostly to make sure the rocks are clean. I usually only do it for a few hours to a day though. I did notice that after doing it for a day after the 500 stage the rocks were pretty shiny. Great video as always!

[R.M.MacFru]

I was pleasantly surprised at the rocks that were just in water. I like it getting shiny without drastically changing the overall look of the rocks themselves.

Thanks for showing the comparisons, Rob!

[neveraskedforahandle]

As a novice at this, your videos are incredibly informative. Thank you.

[storytimewithunclebill]

Wow, amazing what just water does. They came out really shiny. Was way cheaper than the sand even. Sounds like its just better to spend the money. SOme really nice rocks too. Was fun to watch. Great video

[beckyh]

I discovered by accident the power of burnishing. I had run two loads of rocks and in prepping for the final polish, I discovered that the polish was almost empty and I only had enough for one canister (poor planning, but…) so I decided to do a simple clean on the unpolished rocks. I put ivory flakes and ceramic pellets in and ran it overnight. I was very shocked to discover that they were very polished the next day. It didn’t have quite the same “depth” as a real polish cycle would give, but still quite shiny enough for freeform pendants.

[darrinwilliams]

I really enjoy your approach to these different tumbling experiments. Keep it up.😎

[sparkybish]

I’m surprised at the just water results. The sheen is very attractive with the less rounded rock. Super interesting video!

[stevezozuk]

That is a great lesson Rob, I like how you brought out the Mohs scale to show the differences between all the stones, and the effects it has overall. thanks Rob, see you soon. Cheers

[alenaromashka]

I admire your williness and ability to answer every single comment or like at least. How do you manage this? Your viewers ask good questions as well.

[davidhile]

That was a really interesting and well thought out experiment. I would have never dreamed that the batch tumbled in water would have lost more material than the batch tumbled in sand, and then come out shiny to boot. I’m guessing once the sand lost it’s sharpness it acted more like a lubricant or a buffering agent. I tumble in a rotary tumbler and burnish between the prepolish and the polishing stage. If I let it burnish for 24 hours the rocks often come out with a pretty decent shine. Not as good as polishing of course. Thanks for trying this !

[suzettecalleja]

You answer the questions we're too scared to ask but are thinking. Thinking like a true Teacher. I can tell you were a great teacher. I bet Nancy was too.

[IAmHumanJake]

I agree with the burnishing, I was tumbling rocks with soap, was only supposed to do it for 1 day just to clean it for next steps, but forgot about for 5days. Next step was to go to stage 2. Rocks now looks like I just got out of pre polish

[weirdhousewivesclub]

The results from plain water were really interesting! I have some pieces I've been trying to figure out if I want to polish or not because they look so interesting rough, that a water only tumble may be the right answer for a more natural finish!

[MaryAnnNytowl]

I wondered that, myself, but suspected it had to do with the quartz sand wearing away faster, and it seems I was right about something for once! 😊 Thanks for doing this one. 🙂👍🏼

[staceysakkinen]

Very interesting results. I was quite surprised to see how well just the water batch did. I guess that's good to do if you don't want your rocks to get to rounded. Thanks for taking the time to demonstrate.

[AtomicShrimp]

I'd be interested to see a comparison of final polishing between plain water and water plus polishing compound (i.e. start with two batches of rocks that are tumbled and ready for final polish - but just use water in one set)

[Rookie_Rockounding]

Man! This was really cool. I’m amazed at the shine on the water ones. It’s a nice way to show off the prettiness of rough pieces without fully going through the whole tumbling process. Super interesting man!

[rosalindhendricks]

Thorough experiment and explanation. I’m not surprised, because your teacher experience often shows through in your videos. That was interesting.